Dust-gun.



'R R. SLATE & D. D. STAPLES. DUST GUN.

APPLICATION FILED in. :8. 191a. I

Patented Sept. 24, 1918 Qinnnlnvc Roller! glad/ e 4 Jen/won- ,i'tqazas Fia V UNITED STATES PA NT OFFICE;

BQI BEBT B. SLATE, OF SOUTH BOSTON,- AND DENISON D. STAPLES, OI RICHMOND,

VIRGINIA.

DUST-GUN;

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ROBERT R. SLATE and DENISON D. S'rAPLns, citizens of the United States, resi ding, respectively, at South l5os-' ton, Halifax county, and at Richmond, Hep} rico county, State of Vn'gnnu, have IIIVEHtGCL certain new and useful Improvements in Dust-Guns; and we do hereb} declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will' enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to-make and use the some.

This invention relates to spraying apps,- ratus and more particularly to that type of apparatus comprising a gun, which, by means of :1 blast of air, may be utilized to spray any suitable powder upon plants, bushes or other surfaces desired or in the eradication of pests or for the treatment of theplants or other objects It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a simple, practicable, comparatively inexpensive, and compactly designed gun, and to provide one which will enable the operator to operate itwith ease,

facilitate the adjustment of the discharge of powder from the gun and which will permit the operator to haveready access to the interior of the magazine or container, when it is necessary.

[t is another obj provide means easily-within the view of the operator, whereby the amount of powder discharged? may beregulated without necesthe adjustment is being made.

ll lVith these and other -objects in view, as

siteting'the stopping of thedevice, while J Another ob'ect of the invention is to prov1d e a simple and practical agitatorof, such v, that little power will b'COIlSlllIlBd in its operation and which will insur'e'the ready land, fre e'passageof the powder to the dis,

charge through the outlet nozzle of themechine; g i

A further'objectof theinvention is to pro vide me'ans for preventingthe da'mmin'g or clogging of th'e discharge chute with the powder-beingdischarged from the gun.

willlbemiore fully set forth in the following specification, the invention consists; of "the construction, the pzirt's, th ecombi'nat1on, and

in details perticulerlydescribed hereinafter,

one form oit' the"inventionbeingj illustreted in the accompanying drawing, wherein,

Specification'of we, remit.

ect of the invention to able area, whichamadepted'm beicoveredf ber of segmental ports, 14' d's pivoted Keen Patented Sept; 24, 191 s."

Application filed l ebruary 1 8, 1818-, Serial No. 217,908.

Figure l is a 'side elevation of thedust gun partly broken away,

Fig. 2 is an end view of the same front, g Fig. 3 is a perspective view ofth'e a'fgfitafrom the l g y so Fig. 4 is a plan view'of the I-jeed control with the parts relatively separated, 51g. 5 is a perspective view of the striker,

an a

F ig s. 6 and 7 are res ectively, an edgb v ew and a plan view 0 the nozzle of the dust gun. i .7

r This dust gun is'ofthe type adopted to be carried by the operator, through means of a strap or other suitable harness assed over 7 the shoulders of the operator en connected to the device in any simple and suitebleinanner as most convenient, In its present embodiment, the apparatusccomprises a; substantially cylindrical fenbox 2 having its .sides provided with apertures 3 fortheinlet of air during the operationof asuiteble fan 4:, which is secured upon a; shaft '5 which, with the fan, is set eccentric. to'ith'e axis of the cylindrical box 2 Sons toprovide for an increased operating efficiency ,in the discharge of the blast of air fromsthe fan box 2 through i'tahgentialdischarge tube/6 which has a rounded and to telescopicall re oeive the section 7 of a nozzle 8]whie as shown in Figs; 6 and 'l, islsubstentia-lly of segmental form and is tapered o -flattened Sp i, as to produce a relatively narrowjd ischarge mouth 9 of considerable lengthfthis inouth being shownin the .form otn segmentijfoi; 9d

the efiicient distribution of the dust'or' pow der being discharged from the a'p er'atus.

-The'discharge tube ti 'is 'pro'vi ed; with. at port, at, 10 gut its upper side, upon whiehfis superposed ri valve isk orrplete 11jha'm a! aplurality of segmental spertures 12,.0f s11,

uncovered through means, of a valve" which e150 is prowded with sIsuit'aible-nu' \1 0 man as at 15, to the center of thel'fixed' platell, the relative areas of theport's 12 and. 14 being such that when inregisterwith one another, a full and free discharge of ms terial is permittedfroni-agsuperposed hopper H, which substantially isin the mm of an inverted triangular box havin J1 ,width sub; stantia'lly equal to thewidth o absenteeing 2 and. the rear; side of which lies in close proximity to the cylindrical surface of the fan box 2, as shown in Fig. 1, so that these )arts are compactly arranged and assembled and may be rigidly secured together to form a substantial structure. The sides of the box 2 and hopper H are shown as of one piece ofsheet metal. Preferably, the entire top of the feed hopper or magazine H is 'open from side to side and from end to end so as to provide for the free access of the operator into the interior of the magazine, the top'end of which is provided with' a set of suitable guides 16 upon and between which there is providable a removable cover plate 17 which may be provided, at its forward or outer end, with a finger ring or handie portion 18 to facilitate adjustment of the top plate.

It is one of the important objects of the present invention to provide for the ready control of the amount of powder discharged from the apparatus. by the adjustment of the regulator or valve member 13, and for that reason this latter is provided with a pointer portion 13 projecting radially from one side of the valve member 13 and adapted to register selectively, with any of the series of graduations as 11 formed adjacent. an

arcuate edge 11" of the fixed valve plate 11' which is'clearly shown in Fig. 2, as projecting on what will be the left-hand side of the dust gun so as to enable the operator to freelv adjust the valve men'ibei' 13 with his lefthand while'the device is in use in the s raying of powder. To secure the effectual c osing of the passage-ways through the valve members to prevent the waste of material, the diameter of the segmental port 12 in the lower plate 11 is preferably less than the diameter of the coiirdinate passageway 1 .1 iu'the movable member 13, so that when this latter is moved to positions to cover the port 12, these latter are entirely and effectually closed,

The fanshaft 2 may be driven by any suitable means, which as here shown, comprises a belt 20 cxtendingover a pulley 21 fixed on the fan shaft and also passing over a. large driving pulley -22 whichis secured on a shaft 23 exten'di'n transversely across the lower portionzof t e hopper H so that an agitator mounted on, the shaft may sweep through the material in "the container and prevent itfro'm' daf'nm'ing or clogging, and thus insure its free 'passage through.the open bottom of the magazine H and to the outlets of the-regulating device or valve above described." It is desirable to provide a form of'a "tatin device which will be easily operab e wit as littlere'sistance as possible through the material, and will thereby require but little power to cause its operation and as shown in Fig. 3, the pref eglrdj form of the agitating device coming their necessary resilienc prises a series of.reetangularloops on bails,- preferably of wire, as shown at 25, the side arms of the bails being provided with eyes or rings 26 embracing the main shaft 23, so that as the latter is rotated, through means of a crank handle 27 attached to the main wheel 22, the loops of the agitatin device will sweep through the material an keep it loose, so that it will readily feed from the apparatus.

igidity of connection between the several components of the apparatus-may be readily secured by the utilization of a substantially Ush'aped frame having side arms 30 and atransverse cross-piece 31', this U-shaped meniber embracing the fan housin 2, and the n-iagazine H, and being suitab y secured to these parts, and forming as well, a substantial journal or bearing for the transverse shafts 5 and 23,. and alsoproviding a suitable means upon which may be mounted a belt-tightener comprising an idle roller journailed on the lower end of a bracket or slide 34, which is shown as slotted at 35 to receive a set screw or other clamping device 36 whereby it may be clamped against the sur face of the side arm 30 of the main frame In order to overcome any tendency of the powder being discharged from the hopper H and into the discharge nozzle or tube members, from sticking to the interior wall of the discharge member, there is provided a suitable vibrating device which is adapted to. be actuated so-that it will intermittently strike or tap the side of the discharge tube 6 in a position somewhat near the outlet from the feed hopper, one form of this tapping or vibrating device being illustrated in members 38. shown in Fig. 2, which are attached to the inside surface of the main drive wheel 22, so that as the cam members move against. the adjacent tappet member 37 of the yielding bow 36? the latter will be reci'procated laterally or transversely as to, the discharge tube 6- and when the tappet' member moves off of the moving cam, the,

resilient how will spring back so that its side-member adjacent the tube 6 will strike the latter a light blow sufficiently to break loose any of the adhering material. The bow is shown as provided at the ends of each of.itfs side members, with loops ,36' provid-.

for the bow, which may be connected at its ends 36" b means ofa transverse clamp plate 39 Whic is fastened by screws 40, to the, transverse ends 31 of the U-shaped main frame.

' turned spaced ends From the foregoing it will be seen that by locating the main crank'wlmel on one side of the hopper, and disposing ttllkfjuljllHl'ZllllP pointer ember of the valve 13 onthzy pposite sidg of the hopper. that. the

the rotation of its crank and at any time de sired, may adjust the valve member 13 to control the amount of powder discharged from the gun. At the same time. while the crank wheel is bein turned. the agitator comprising the setoi -bows 25 is rotated 'at the lower portion of the feed hopper to keep the material therein loose. and this mate rial is prevented fron adhering to the inner side'of the discharge nozzles or tubes by the continuous vibration thereof during the np eration of the crank wheel. because of the intermittent tapping of the sides of the discharge tubes through means of the vibrating device 36". i

In the event that it should become necessary. the operator may remove the cover in of'the t'ced magazine aml pass his hand down into the interior thereof so as to have access to the agitating device 25 or to the valve members at the lower end of the t'eed hopper. By reason of the eccentric disposition of the band wheel 4 within its housing 2. an ample draft of air may be readily forced through the discharge tube and nozzlo at-a. minimum requirement of power from the operating crank wheeh What. is claimed is:

l. in a. dust gun,'a discharge tube and a feed magazine therefor. a laterally yielding spring bow embracing the tube and attached at its ends t the frame and adapted to tap the latter", and means for vibratiugthe how.

2. in a dust gun. a discharge. tube, and a feed magazine therefor. a spring bow embracing the tube-and attached at its upi to a Iixed part of the de vice and having a laterally extended tappet.

and a driven shaft having means t'onstrik opcrtrlyr w a may continuously drive themain wheel and UK connecting the box end of the trame being attached to the transing the tappctso as to cause one member of tbe-bow to tap the side of the tube.

3. In a dust gun. a tan and its box. the lalterhaving a tangential discharge tube, id a feed magazine disposed above and disrgfilyging into the tube. the magazine being disposed ad acent to and overhanging the periphery ot the fan box'to secure compact ness of arrangement. aml a U-shaped frame and magazine the cross verse .end face of the magazine.

4. 'In a dust gun. a tan and itsl.1ox..thelatter having a tangential discharge tube. and a feed magazine disposed above and discharging into the tube. the magazine being disposed adjacent to and overhanging the peripheri' ot' thetan box to secure compact-- ness of arrangement, and a U-shaped' t'rame connecting the box and nmgaziue and attached to the latter. and shafts journaled in said frame and extending across the box and magazine respectively. the upper portions of the sides of the box and magazine being continuous. the lower portion of the magazine being pyramidal and spaced from the tan box and resting in the bight oi the frame.

5. in a dust gun. a discharge tube and a feed magazine to the bottom of which the tube is connected for comuninication. an agitator operative in the bottom of the magazine above the. outlet to the tube. a shaft having a wheel and carrying the agitator. and means f0l"jtlll'ltl[ the tube to prevent the clogging of the powder being discharged. said means comprising a substantially rec tangular bow having parallel side members (oiled with eyes to form springs. the ends being extended for attachment tothc magazine. and aside member of the bow having a laterally extending lug adapted for operative engagement with said wheel.

ROBERT ll. SinVll l. DENIHON l). S'ltvPLliS. 

